Holiday Inn Express, Dalhart, Texas

The hotel posted signs in the room promoting energy conservation by turning lights and the TV off when leaving the room. I found that a refreshing education and reminder to their guests. They supported their energy conservation goal by having compact fluorescent bulbs in their lamps. They also had individual climate control so that guests can moderate their own heating and cooling; our heater was on low when we arrived and the room was quite comfortable. The bathroom had a hanger offering a towel re-use program and the bedroom had a tent promoting sheet re-use. Since I didn't stay more than one night I don't know if they honored their programs, but they are off to a good start. Toilets were low flush. They have no smoking rooms They had unlined waste baskets, conserving on the use of petroleum products, that they wiped or washed out as needed.

The areas where they fell down in moving toward a greener hotel was the used of Styrofoam and plastic cups in the guestrooms and Styrofoam service ware in the breakfast room. I'm sure they don't have a commercial kitchen so are using disposable service ware, but they could have used recyclable service ware which is widely available now. There shower curtains were plastic, contributing to poorer room air quality because of off-gassing. They had individual amenities, contributing to the landfill and wasting packaging.

It was a pleasant surprise finding a hotel that gave us high speed internet for free and taking steps toward being a green hotel.